It was an unusually gray day recently, and as I walked outside I noticed that our flag was looking similarly gray and not as bright as it should.

One of the effects of living in the Big Bear Lake area, above 6,500 feet, is that the sun is particularly strong and will cause surfaces to alter. Just ask anyone who’s been out on the lake without sunscreen.

With things other than skin, fading is the principal issue and I knew that I had to replace Old Glory, which meant a trip down the hill to Jon’s Flags and Poles in Riverside.

I had found this place about five years ago when I heard a radio advertisement while driving around, and it struck me that perhaps only in America could you have a business devoted to just flags (and poles, too, of course).

I’ve been to Europe a few times in the last five years and it’s noticeable that not too many countries there display flags with such prominence. The French Tricolour is fiercely defended and when I visited there was a large one hanging from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, but that was about it.

The Brits are having a rough time with Brexit and also a recent referendum as to whether the Scots should remain in the Union. They elected to stay, so there was no need to redesign the Union Jack. It would have meant removing the blue part of the flag as that together with the white diagonal cross is the flag of St. Andrews, the patron saint of Scotland.

It was noticeable that last year the only flags of the European Union were those on diplomatic cars and outside the odd embassy.

But the flag of St. George — a red cross on a white background — is often seen, proclaiming the owners as English rather than British. When I lived there, I never saw that flag flown anywhere; in fact, my family never owned any flags at all.

But here in America, the Stars and Stripes is available for purchase in many, many places. On high days and holidays, they are all around and ours flies permanently in the back yard. I reserve the 15-foot flag pole for special occasions, however.

A search of the Internet shows just how many flags the US actually has. The president has one, as does the vice president. The State Department and even the Department of the Interior have them. Then there are all the states.

Perhaps we need to rethink having the grizzly bear on the California flag since they no longer roam in the wild in the state. Perhaps replace it with the smaller black bear, which actually are a variety of colors — even white.

I’ve always been partial to the Arizona flag which I think looks rather exotic, and Wyoming’s flag has a buffalo inside a white rectangle on a blue background. I met up with a buffalo the last time I was in the state.

If you add all the sports teams and companies with logos flying high outside the main offices, there are lots of flags in this country. There’s even a special society that studies them — the Canadian and American Vexillological Association, which was formed in 1967.

The shelves and walls are filled with flags and other items at Jon’s Flags & Poles in Riverside. (Photo by Trevor Summons)

When I arrived at Jon’s Flags and Poles in Riverside, I gave them my faded flag and the assistant asked me if I wanted it retired. It showed the reverence given to this symbol of our nation — you don’t just throw them away, they are “retired” by being burned in a fire during a special ceremony.

Trevor Summons writes about getaways in the Inland Empire and beyond. His book, “Trevor’s Travels (in Southern California),” is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Email trevorsummons@hotmail.com.